Insane Courage
by scorpiusrose
Summary: "Staring at your coffee is not going to make it magically give you the answer." In which Scorpius is drowning his sorrows in coffee because he learns that the most popular guy in school has a crush on Rose, but with a little extra wisdom from Albus, he knows he's not going down without a fight


**(A/N)** Oh, hello there. Just decided to write a quick oneshot because I have an exam tomorrow and I can't be bothered to revise. I'm probably going to regret it later when I struggle to answer any of the questions. Fantastic, so let's get right to it.

 **Prompt:** "Staring at your coffee is not going to make it magically give you the answer."

* * *

"You know, staring at your coffee is not going to make it magically give you the answer," a cheerful voice rang out. He groaned, he just wanted to brood in peace, without one Albus Potter interrupting.

 _Maybe if I prayed hard enough, he would just go away_ , he thought to himself.

"Come on, Scorpy, let it all out," Al continued, clapping a hand on his back and taking a seat next to him.

Praying seemed like a good idea after all.

"Dear Merlin," he muttered in a low voice, "If you're out there listening, please make my annoying twit of a best friend leave right now. Amen"

"Seriously? You're praying for my departure?" Al said sarcastically with a hand over his heart, "I am offended, Scorpius Malfoy. I will have you know that Rose has officially replaced you as my best friend. You are now demoted," Al chuckled, knowing that he would get a reaction after mentioning his cousin.

"Can you not see that I'm not in the mood to talk right now, Albus?"

"Full name, scarryyyyyy. You know I'm all ears," Al was clearly revelling in his misery, "What do you say, just between us girls, huh?" His eyes were shining with anticipation.

Today had been a downright shitty day. He woke up way too early for class, after his cat had decided to jump onto the bed and attempt to claw his face off. Then, on his way up to breakfast, he realised he forgot all of his books, and had to go back for them. To make matters worse, when he reached the Great Hall, he scanned the room for Rose, and saw that she had already taken a seat at her own Ravenclaw table, surrounded by a billion girls.

The icing on the cake, though, came just before dinner. He had some time to spare before he was due in the Great Hall, and so he decided to go down to the Quidditch Pitch to watch the Ravenclaws practice.

He spotted her red hair straight away, blowing in the wind as she passed the Quaffle to her teammate.

As if she could sense him somehow, she turned to look at his direction as he settled onto the bleachers, and with a smile on her face, waved and whizzed over on her broom.

"You know, I could kick you out for attempting to spy on our team practice," Rose said half-heartedly.

"Oh please, Rose. You wouldn't miss the chance to show off your stellar Chaser skills," he replied casually.

"My, my, is that a compliment I hear? Finally admit defeat, Scorp?"

"You'll find that to be untrue when we play against you next month and you can't get a single Quaffle into our hoops."

She laughed, it was like a melody to him. If he could paint her laugh on a piece of paper, it would be in shades of bright yellow.

"Damn, where did the time go? I better go wrap up the practice so my teammates don't complain of me starving them. I'll see you around, Scorp," Rose gave him a genuine smile and flew off.

He slowly made his way to dinner, feeling that his day was finally going on the right track, when he heard someone down the hallway.

"I can't believe she's still single," a male voice said, "She's fit as fuck, and not to mention, she can really ride those brooms, if you know what I'm saying."

Scorpius rolled his eyes at the obvious immaturity of this person. He didn't have time to listen to this stupid banter.

"And she's a Weasley too," another voice joined in.

He froze. He hoped to Merlin that they weren't talking about who he thought they were. There were only two Weasley girls who currently played Quidditch, one being Roxanne, and the other was Rose.

Like what he presumed a spy would do in his situation, he snuck behind a wall and conjured a mirror to reflect an image of the people around the corner.

He knew he recognised that voice somewhere and he wasn't even surprised such vulgar conversation came out of Mr. Joshua-Douchebag-Harlington. Except he wished that was how everyone saw it.

Josh Harlington was one of the most beloved students to grace the hallways of Hogwarts. Behind his annoying personality was a facade he kept to charm his way through the ladies of the school. He was a seventh year, making him a year older than Scorpius himself, and he was also the Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

He quickly vanished the mirror as he heard their footsteps getting louder and louder.

"I'm gonna ask her out tonight," he boldly claimed, "Rose won't be able to resist my charm."

His worst suspicions were confirmed. He not only felt suffocated being in the same room as Harlington's enormous ego, the fact that the most popular guy in school was going to ask out his own crush made him want to vomit.

It's true. He's had a crush on Rose since fourth year, but still hasn't worked up the courage to ask her out after two years. She's extremely attractive and he only has himself to blame if she gets scooped up by another guy who has eyes.

So that brings us back to where he is now. Sitting alone in the kitchen with his coffee in front of him, at least he was, before Albus so rudely came to disturb his silence.

"- just between us girls, huh?"

"Really, Al. There's nothing to say. You must've heard, it's not as if he was quiet during dinner about how he was going to ask Rose out tonight. He might as well have laid his claim on her already."

"Yet, she hasn't said yes" Al was the only person who knew of his crush on Rose, and he liked to keep it that way, especially now, knowing that Rose was probably going to start dating someone else very soon.

"Yes, but that's because she was still at Quidditch practice and he hasn't had the chance to talk to her yet."

"What makes you so certain that she would say yes to him?"

"Al, you've been in this school for six years, when was the last time anyone turned down Josh Harlington?"

"True, but Rose isn't just anyone, is she?"

"Ughhh. This is the worst day ever." He slumped down onto the table dramatically.

"Scorpius, my friend, sit the fuck up, and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're still in the fight, you haven't lost yet. Where's the confidence that you always carry with you? Stop acting like a damn wimp, because if you don't do anything about it RIGHT NOW, you're going to regret it for possibly the rest of your life." He had never heard Albus speak with such conviction and seriousness, it made him feel all the more guilty.

"Get your sorry arse out of this kitchen, and go find her," Albus ordered, "She's at the Great Lake, by the way," he said in a friendlier, and much more 'Albus-tone'

He scurried out of his seat to the Lake, hoping that he wasn't too late.

Sure enough, there she was, standing next to the Great Lake, looking as beautiful as ever. Only she wasn't alone. He could tell by the silhouette of the person next to her that Josh had made his way there before he had.

He would've turned around and admit defeat if he didn't see her obvious discomfort, even in the moonlight. He knew Rose since they were young, he knew everything about her, the way she ran her hands through her hair repeatedly showed just how much she did not want to be there.

In a split second, he made up his mind and took out his wand, and quickly mumbled "Confundo".

Just like that, Josh looked hazed and confused as he stumbled around, unsure of where he was.

Rose herself, was too confused, but mostly at the sudden strange behaviour that Josh was exhibiting. Nevertheless, taking this as her opportunity to leave, she quickly placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him and said, "It's getting late, I better go. Bye, Josh."

She all but ran back towards the castle.

"Rose," Scorpius called out, "Rose, it's me"

Thanking the Deities above that it hadn't been Josh who came to his senses, she ran towards his voice.

"Was that you, Scorp?" She eyed him suspiciously, but couldn't hide the smile on her face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he feigned innocence.

"Well, I was going to thank my mysterious saviour, but now that I know it's not you, I guess I better go find him," she teased. His eyes widened at her admission.

"Oh you're not going anywhere, Rosie. How about you thank him now," he boldly reached out to hold her waist.

"If you say so," Rose whispered, leaning in as their lips finally met.

Sometimes all you need is a few moments of insane courage.

* * *

 **Please Review so I don't feel as guilty about not revising for my exam.**

(and Rose was actually the one who told Al to find Scorpius to tell him where she was. I didn't include this in the story because I didn't know where to fit it)

And if you guys wanna find me, you can always message me through Tumblr (scorpiusrose)


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